Port Charles High-

As always, the new incarnation of the teen musketeers of Port Charles waded through the halls of their not so fair school huddled together and depending upon one another for support. Each of them had their own respective problems or at least quandaries. Some of those problems did not stem from their own life. Georgie had to deal with the knowledge of her sister ruining yet another relationship with the boy that just happened to be her own boyfriend's best friend, not to mention a person that Georgie herself happened to care about a great deal. Brook was still dealing with all the ramifications that came from her mother being in that car accident. Not many people knew, thankfully, but each time someone looked at Brook for just a little too long she would think that maybe they were trying to figure out how she was handling what had happened to her. If there was one thing that Brook Lynn did not appreciate it was being under the microscope. She wanted to be her own woman, not be the type of person who everyone watched. That was one of the reasons why, despite her vocal talents, which she knew she had, she didn't want to be the famous person that her mother dreamed of. Brook didn't want her life to be on the front page of tabloid after tabloid. She loved her privacy, and that was why she enjoyed spending time with her friends, because they respected the fact that there were times when she just didn't want to talk about what was going on with herself. Dillon, the sole male member of the trio, was still trying to smooth over the relationship that he had with Jason. They had worked out some of their problems, but they didn't have some huge breakthrough. Jason could say that he wanted Dillon to be there with him, but would Jason show the emotion that Dillon wanted? That was something that he wasn't so sure about. Jason and emotions tended to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. Dillon knew that Jason was capable of feeling them. He saw them every time Jason was around Michael, but, aside from the very few times where some sort of circumstance managed to come around, Jason was not big on the touchy and the feely.

While the trio may have been together, they weren't really talking. Occasionally they would say one thing, but it wouldn't go anywhere. They would talk about what they were eating for lunch and how it tasted, offering a fry or a chip here and there, but any of the chatter that made them the close knit group that they were was gone, and each of them, in their own way, felt the pangs of losing that bond. They had only been together for a little while, Dillon and Georgie having years of connections that Brook would not have with them, but in the short time that Brook had been brought into their life they welcomed her into the fold and let her in on as much of their lives as they could. Of course, there were some things that just wouldn't be shared, like the way that they cuddled, and what they did when they were alone, which wasn't very much, it was actually pretty much exactly what they did in public. The idea of sex had been tossed around many, many times, by both parties, but, in the end, Georgie often felt that she wasn't yet ready to give that specific gift to anyone, even someone that she loved as much as Dillon. Though disenchanted, Dillon would always understand and he would always wait. Having Georgie in his life as much as he did without the sex was much better than not having her in his life at all.

They finally stopped walking aimlessly around the halls of Port Charles high, ending instead by sitting on the steps that were leading up to the second story of the school, Dillon and Georgie holding hands with one another, a connection that they would always feel regardless of the words that were being said. Brook was slightly distanced from the pair, leaning against the wall. Occasionally she would look at them and she would be envious of what they had. Of course, she didn't want the same connection with Dillon that Georgie had, but the connection that they shared, just in terms of being with one another, that was something that she did want… with anyone. One person in particular, of course, but if she could find someone else, someone who made her feel the same way and someone who she could be with in that way, she would jump at the chance.

Georgie was the one who was feeling the worst amount of personal turmoil. She couldn't help it. While Brook may have been going through something that was more important, she at least knew that her mother was going to be all right. Georgie had no idea how Maxie was going to recover, or even if she was going to. Worse, Georgie didn't even know why she cared about the fact that Maxie was so miserable. Georgie meant what she said, she didn't care what Maxie did with her life anymore, because it no longer involved her. Georgie couldn't do it anymore, she couldn't keep on being there to pick up the shattered pieces of her sister's life. It was getting to the point where Georgie barely had time to deal with her own problems because there was almost always something that Maxie was worried about. She was worried about how he felt about her, or if he wanted to be with Brook, and now she was going to be worried about what she was going to do without him. And all those questions would fall on Georgie. Georgie would be the one that was expected to find a way to solve them. Nobody else. Just Georgie.

Finally, the pain of dealing with all the frustration just became too much for her mind to bear. There was a threshold that Georgie had internally, a lever that seemed to always be able to hold all the angst that Maxie sent her way. Whatever that lever once was, it was destroyed, or at least lifted. Georgie gripped Dillon's hand tightly so that he looked over at her. She gently tilted her head over, signaling that the two of them needed to go and talk about something. Standing up, she saw Brook's eyes move towards her. "I need to talk with Dillon really quickly, Brook. It won't take long. That's all right, right?"

"What?" Brook snapped back into reality as she looked at her friend. Georgie was probably her best female friend, and Dillon her best male friend. They were also pretty much her only male and female friends, which presumably said a lot about her. "Yeah, sure… go ahead, don't let me keep you two from whatever it is that you need to talk about. Actually, I need to talk with my teacher for my next class, I think he's in the room right now. So, I'll see you guys later, all right?"

Dillon and Georgie nodded as Brook walked away and turned around the corner. When she was gone, Georgie sank her head into Dillon's chest. "I hate that I have to tell you this…"

"Tell me what?"

"They broke up…"

"Who broke up? Steve and Leah?" The 'popular' couple at Port Charles, although why Georgie would be distraught over their breakup was beyond Dillon, but who else could she be talking about?

Georgie pulled herself away. "Dillon… I'm being serious right now. They broke up… Damian and Maxie… they broke up last night." She didn't even know if she should have been the one to tell him, but it seemed better hearing it from her than anyone else, sans Damian himself. And, even then, when his best friend did tell him, Dillon would be ready to do whatever it was that he was expected to do as a best friend.

Dillon looked at Georgie in shock. Could she really be talking about the two of them breaking up? The two who seemed to be even more perfect than Dillon and Georgie themselves? "What… what happened?"

"Maxie saw Damian with Brook when they were in the chapel at the hospital. They were hugging, and Brook was leaning on him because she was so upset over what had happened with Lois. Of course, my sister, being the person that she is, refused to actually think about what was going on for a second and decided that she was going to think that it was the worst possible thing that could have happened. She thought that he was lying to her and cheating on her, so she decided to do the same thing. You remember Robbie? Kyle's friend…"

"The pinhead who held me down while Kyle beat me up the first summer I was here?" Remembering the incident made his jaw ache a little. "Yeah, I think I remember who you're talking about."

"Well, that was who Maxie decided that she wanted to cheat on Damian with. Because she thought that it was only fair… and… he walked in on them. I don't know if she wanted him to walk in on them or not, but he did, and she didn't seem to care. You should have seen her, Dillon, the way that she looked at him… with all that anger in her eyes. She didn't even care when she saw him crumbling in front of her."

"This is bad…"

"Yeah, I know."

"No, you don't know, Georgie…" Dillon shook his head. "Think about this from my perspective, would you? Maxie is your sister, and she's still one of my best friends because of how much time I spend with you and her. Damian is my best friend, and he's going to be crushed and probably going to look for some support from me… and Brook's my niece. When she finds out what happened…"

"But she won't…"

"There's no way in hell that she won't find out what happened, Georgie. You know that. This is Port Charles. When someone sneezes everyone knows about it. This is huge. Once it gets out… it's going to be bad." Dillon didn't even want to think of the ramifications that it could have between Sonny and his family with Mac. They were barely connected through the union of son and daughter, but now?

"I don't know what to do, Dillon. I'm so mad at my sister that I don't want to help her. But, she's still my sister, and I know that she's in so much pain right now that I can't just turn a blind eye to her. Can I?"

"You need to do what you feel is best… we both do."

"What if we pick different sides?" Georgie asked. "What if I decide to defend Maxie, and you defend Damian? What's that going to do to us?"

Dillon grabbed her hand, "This doesn't involve either of us, not really. Whatever happens, we need to promise each other that we're going to stay together, that we won't let our opinions on what happened to them impact our relationship with one another."

Georgie nodded. "I promise." She hoped that it was a promise that she could keep. It was not a promise that she was going to make in vain. She wanted to keep her word.

Harbor View Towers-

Courtney had left Jason to do what he thought he needed to do. It was one of those times when it was best not to ask questions, so Courtney respected that idea and did not ask any questions about what he was going to do. Instead, she went home, satisfied that something was going right in her life, but she didn't take it for what it was, not completely at least. She still wanted some help, she still needed some help.

The woman stepped out of the elevator and saw her big brother standing there. She smiled at Sonny as she stopped in front of him. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I've got some business that I need to take care of. One of the coffee importers is in town, I need to pay him a visit." It wasn't code for anything. One of the main owners of the big supplier of the coffee really was in town. "But… I've got a little bit of time left. You look like you have a lot on your mind. I know that I haven't really been playing big brother much with you lately… but…"

"You're a great big brother, Sonny," Courtney replied softly. "Really. You're the best big brother that I could ever hope for. And I mean that. Before, I would wish that I had a big brother that would help me solve all my problems. I would dream about this person who would look so much like me, he would have the same eyes, and blond spiked hair… sort of like Billy Idol, only not as disgusting."

"And then you got me…"

"Yeah, but what you are is hundreds of times better. I couldn't have dreamed to have a big brother as good as you. So you don't spend as much time with me now… I have Jason, and we both have our own lives. I'm not a little girl, I'm not even that girl that came to Port Charles that you thought you needed to protect. I can take care of myself. Hell, I can probably take you out."

"Don't get too cocky, little sister."

"So says the man who believes himself to be God's gift to women, dimples and all…"

Sonny smiled, showing the aforementioned dimples. "Seriously, though. Are you all right, Courtney? There's nothing on your mind that you need to talk about?"

Courtney thought about letting him go, but she realized that there were times in her life where she really did need her big brother's advice. She could have gone to Carly, but Carly loved Jason so much and she really wasn't particularly fond of Dillon. They had some strange sort of friendship, but it wasn't very deep. Mike didn't know Jason that well, though he did know Dillon. Sonny was the only person who knew Jason well, and who knew Dillon on some level and had a positive opinion about him, which actually made him the best person to talk with. "Yeah, I guess I could use my big brother right about now."

"Shoot…"

"Jason and Dillon were having some problems. Dillon didn't feel that Jason was appreciating him as much as he wanted to be. So, Dillon confronted Jason about it…"

"That wasn't very smart."

"No, it wasn't, but everything turned out all right. I just… I don't know if what Jason said was just something that he said to make Dillon feel better about his place in Jason's life, or if he really felt that he wanted Dillon to be t here. I want to pry, but I don't want to pry at the same time. I want them to work it out, but I don't want them to be unhappy. I feel like I'm stuck in the middle. Jason's my husband, I love him so much, but Dillon… Dillon's become important to me, you know? He's a part of my life now, and I want him to stay that way."

"I get what you mean," Sonny agreed. Dillon had become a part of his life, too. Not a very big part, but a part of Sonny's life that he would actually miss if it was taken away. "The best thing you can do right now is wait." That was the best advice that he could give. Wait out the problem, and hopefully it would find a way to resolve itself.